228 



THE AORI ULTU BAL JOURNAL. 



irrigation. 



riOLONEL CORBETT, the Irrigation 

 Vj Expert, will complete his term of two 

 years' service with the Natal Government 

 about the middle of November. Any 

 cue wishing to consult him should there- 



fore apply without delay. No fee is 

 charged for this officer's services. Appli- 

 cation should be made direct to Colonel 

 Corbett, Department of Agriculture, 

 Pietermaritzburg. 



District Reports. 



HAKDING, 10th June.— We have got fairly 

 into winter now, and I am afraid it will be a 

 severe one, as the streams have never been up 

 above winter level, we can only hope that it will 

 not be a long winter. Crops, taking them all 

 round, are not good, some portions of the 

 District felt the drought, land the locusts as 

 well made them look very bad when I saw 

 them last, and I am afraid they can not recover. 

 We have had little or no horsesickness, I am 

 pleased to say, thiss ason. Land in this District 

 is being much sought after by farmers from 

 East Griqualand, for winter grazing. Several 

 farmers from there have purchased farms in 

 this District, and if land were obtainable others 

 would follow suit. 



P. W. SiTEPSTONE, Magistrate. 



TNANDA, l!)th June —It has been very quiet 

 here since I wrote last. The weather has been 

 delightfully cool — even cold on occasions, and 

 very dry. The following are the main features 

 of the meteorological observations during May : 

 EiainO'93 of an inch, which fell on 5 days, the 

 heaviest fall being 48 of an inch on the 6th, 

 Max temperature in the shade, 95 degeees on 

 the 29th, minimum 45 degrees on the l'2th. The 

 latter is about as low as ic ever falls in Verulam, 

 when there is usually frost along the valleys and 

 other low-lyiijg lands. The mean temperature 

 for the month was 67 degrees. There was a 

 very partial shower over the township of 

 Verulam on the 9th inst., when '44 of an inch of 

 rain fell, so far as I have been able to ascertain. 

 This did not extend far in any direction, so that 

 the country is beginning to look very dry, and 

 cane fields are beginning to f)resent white patches 

 here and there. 1, however, hear from planters 

 that they are not anxious for rain just at present, 

 as nearly all the mills are crushing, and the 

 densit\ of the iuice is good, and rain would have 

 the effect of lowering it very much when un- 

 accomiianied by heat, as in summer. Stock is 

 looking well for this season of the year, and so 

 far as I am aware there is no disease in the 

 Division. Horse.sickness was very bad about a 

 month ago — seemed to come with a rush with 

 the cold weather, and kept on into the winter 

 much later than usual. But for this the season 

 would have been considered a favourable one. 

 The dengue epidemic has also pas-ted away, but 

 very few individuals escaped it while it lasted. 

 Considerable movements of mealies and tobacco 

 are still taking jilace, and the prices of the 



former are being well maintained. I have heard 

 of 8s. per mutd being paid, but I think the 

 average price has been nearer 10s. Oranges and 

 naartjes, of good quality and sweet, are plenti- 

 ful at present. Bananas do not seem to be a 

 favourite hereabouts ; one seldom sees any, and 

 the few brought round by Indians are generally 

 of poor quality. The Locust Act has been 

 proclaimed in the Government Gazette as extended 

 to this Division, and its working will no doubt 

 be put to the test next summer if there are any 

 locusts to try it upon. I have not seen any 

 locusts about since my last notes, but I believe 

 there are one or two swarms still hovering about 

 the Division. 



John L. Knight, Magistrate. 



NKANDHLA, 31st May.— The fall of rain 



has been very small, winds have been prevalent, 

 with an exceptionally strong north-west gale on 

 the r2th and 13th instant, when a number of 

 trees were blown down rouni the Magistracy, 

 The first frost was noticed about the I5th 

 instant. The natives have been busy reaping 

 and getting in th^ir crops, and are njv selling 

 a few mealies at the local stores, but the harvest 

 does not appear to be very good. No locusts 

 havj been reported in the District. Horses 

 have been dying throughout the month from 

 horsesickness, mostly belonging to the Military. 

 All the cattle belonging to Colonel Bottomley 

 and his agents in the Mfongosi Valley are under 

 license as infected with lungsickness, as well as 

 the cattle belonging to Messrs. Havemann, 

 surrendered Burghers. Mr. F. W. White, 

 Stock Inspector, visited the Magistracy on the 

 10 h and 3')th instant. The health of the 

 District has been good. The-e is still one case 

 of enteric fever at the Qudeni. Things are still 

 very unse ttled in the District. The Nkandhla 

 Rifie Association was again called out for duty 

 on the 31st instant. 



C. C. FoxoN, Magistrate. 



PORT SHEPSTONE, June 14th.— Since 

 my last report, I have held my annual hut-tax 

 collection, and had an opportunity of visiting 

 certain parts of the District. I found that in 

 some localities locusts had done a considerable 

 amount of damage to the mealie crops : in some 

 cases whole fields have been destroyed. In other 

 plices. on the other hand, and more especially 

 at the Imbazane, splendid crops have been 



